2 Children, 1 House, 2 Boyfriends, 1 Spouse
by AymsterSilver
Summary: Lisa is miserable. 1 child was enough, but now 2? It's not that she doesn't love them. It's just that she has to settle their expenses with money she doesn't have. Her husband being away for awhile, she intends to spice her life up with a little pepper...
1. Chapter 1: Idiot! I Almost Ran You Over!

**AymsterSilver: Well this pretty much explains how bored I am during the summer. After I saw the movie I couldn't help wondering what would happen to Lisa now that she had 2 children to take care of and that her husband would always work late or just not show up for anything. So this is pretty much about how Lisa is bored of her life, and spices it up when...a familar visitor comes by...**

2 Children, 1 House 2 Boyfriends 1 Spouse

"Hurry up Sosuke. We're going to be late _again_." Lisa shouted honking the car horn what seemed like a billion times. She was a typical mom. One with no patience and the nagging kind, but, badda bing badda boom, that's what is to be expected from the average mom.

She didn't know _what_ Sosuke was doing inside the house but when he came out he would have to explain himself…that is, explain himself _very quickly_ because she was, after all, late for her occupation at the senior home.

"Sosuke! Do you think I have no life? Where's Ponyo. She's with you right, because if you have to go fetch her down at the water again, it's going to take a _thousand MORE_ years." Now that Ponyo was no longer magic, her clothes would become very wet, and Lisa hated it when people wearing wet clothes went into her car.

"It's alright mom," came Sosuke's voice. "She's right over here with me. Just wait one more second, please."

Lisa huffed, and banged her head on the steering wheel in frustration. She needed to occupy herself in some way to distract her, so she started to wipe the car mirror with a handkerchief. This did not settle her bitterness.

"Alright mom!" Sosuke said coming out of the house with Ponyo's hand in his. "Look at Ponyo! Isn't she pretty?"

Lisa stared at Ponyo walking out of the house who was smiling ever so brightly. She was wearing the blue dress they bought her yesterday at the mall, but her hair had several different messy ponytails that stood up in aimless directions. Lisa reckoned that Sosuke did those ponytails.

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "You wasted all this time, doing Ponyo's hair?"

"Yah." Sosuke said blushing. "She has to look good, for her first day of kindergarten."

"Sosuke," Lisa began, "Cross out 'hairdresser' on the list of your future career options."

"Sure, Whatever that means…" Sosuke smiled. Ponyo was now running around with her hands out like an airplane. Sosuke opened the car door for her and she ran in, head first and landing on the back seat upside down.

"Are we going to your school Sosuke?" Ponyo asked upside down, her blood rushing to her head and her feet dangling in the air.

"Yes, Ponyo." Sosuke exclaimed. "Put on your seatbelt, Ponyo and sit down properly, or it could be very very dangerous."

"Ok." Ponyo said rearranging herself so that she sat on her behind rather than her head.

Lisa started the car and as usual, she sped over the driving limit. One of these days, someone will pull her over, but she could get away with it on a small island for now. Multitasking with what she called her 'super mommy' powers, she steered with one hand dialled the senior home number on her cell phone, placed it on her shoulder, and then arranged Sosuke's and Ponyo's lunches.

"Hi." She said, once someone answered the phone. "I'm going to be a tad late as usual. Please don't penalize me for this. Bye!" She nudged the cell phone so that it dropped in her lap and handed Sosuke's and Ponyo's lunches to them.

"It's your favourite Ponyo. I hope you enjoy it." She said, keeping watch on the road now.

Ponyo examined her lunch container and her eyes widened. "It's Ham! It's Ham! It's Ham!" She squeaked excitedly. "I love ham! Love it!"

Lisa never understood why Ponyo loved ham, but she always guessed that was because it was the first kind of human food she ever had. She could remember Sosuke peering into the bucket beside her and wondering if she would like a part of his sandwich. If Ponyo had eaten the bread that he had offered her instead, perhaps she would be saying, "It's bread! It's bread! It's bread," right about now.

What's wrong with Fujimoto? He doesn't feed his girls, proper food? She could remember him on her front yard spraying what he called _pure water_, the first time she met him and how much of a lunatic he looked in that striped suit and cravat. Who would have thought he was a gods husband…or whatever he was…

Lisa began laughing out loud to herself.

"What is it mom?" Sosuke watched at her curiously. She suppressed her chuckles when she realised it was very strange to burst out laughing for absolutely no reason.

"Nothing sweetheart," she strained. "We're almost there. Are you ready for school Ponyo?" She watched Ponyo's reflection on her front mirror. Ponyo smiled at her and did thumbs up. "Good." Lisa said pulling into the senior home driveway. "Sosuke will show you where to go. You're in his class after all so that should be no problem." She opened the door and stepped out of the car. "Now I have to leave now. I'll be seeing you two later. I love you both very much." She added, closing the door and heading to the inside of the senior home.

"Bye mom." Sosuke waved.

"Bye mom!" Ponyo copied. She turned to Sosuke who was opening the door for her so that she could get out. "Where do we go Sosuke?"

"There's a hole through the senior home fence. If we go through that we can get to school."

"Ok." Ponyo smiled.

* * *

Lisa pushed her way through the senior doors and hurried in the fluorescent lit front lobby, taking off her jacket and getting an apron on, when she placed her jacket behind the front counter. "Sorry I'm late," She said to one of her colleagues. "You know how Sosuke is; he thinks there is no such thing as time.

"Don't you worry about it Lisa. We know exactly how it is. Besides, the senior home is slow moving. It would seem that time doesn't exist in a place like this either." The colleague mused.

Lisa chuckled. "I suppose I better go to Noriko, Yoshie and Toki." She said waving goodbye. She headed for the patio at the back facing the ocean. Sure enough, Noriko, Toki and Yoshie were there with a couple of others.

"Good morning." She said coming out to see them. She could hardly get used to the fact that they were no longer in wheelchairs. It was almost funny to see them on sunbathing chairs sipping pina colodas and reading newspapers. All of them were wearing sunglasses. Because the majority of seniors were now prone to walking, it seemed that the senior home became more of a vacation spa.

"What are you guys up to today?" Lisa asked.

"Oh, nothing much." Toki sighed relaxing her head deeper in the chair. "We were making plans for tomorrow. It seems like some of us want to go sailing or scuba diving."

Lisa looked confused. "Are you sure you can-

"Of course we're sure." Noriko said, sitting up in her chair, and raising her sunglasses up to her forehead. "We may be a goldenoldies, but we feel like we're in out youth again. We can do just about anything…why we could even skydive if we wanted to."

"Skydive?!" Lisa asked bewildered.

"It was just a thought darling." Yoshie smiled crossing her fingers. "Of course only the daredevils would do that."

Lisa could see that the old ladies were somewhat egotistical now that they could walk and do everything that a young adult could do. However they still kept their charm and they didn't act as if their attendants were servants.

"Enough of this planning, let's talk about you, Lisa." Noriko said excitedly. "How are the children getting along?"

"The children?" Lisa wasn't used to the seniors asking hundreds of questions. She was used to the fact that they would stare at the ocean blankly. "Er…they're fine. Ponyo is really easy to take care of."

"Easy?" Yoshie sat up. "That's wonderful. I always thought that a fish would be a burden to take care of."

"No, no." Lisa assured them. "She always helps around the house, and all I have to do for her in return is buy her ham. Buying ham isn't much of a problem. It's a strange obsession of hers."

"A former fish that likes ham." Yoshie giggled, "How cute."

"If you ask me, that's peculiar." Yoki glowered. "Gold fish aren't carnivores. This could be a sign that a tsunami is heading this way."

"Oh, hush." Noriko interjected. "If I were an herbivore I'd make a conversion to eat ham as well. So tell me, Lisa, are they going to get married yet?"

"WHA-WHAT!?!?!" Lisa yelled unexpectedly. "D-Don't you realise they are only 5 years old? They are too young to get married."

"I'm sure it could be arranged." Noriko insisted.

"Well I would never allow it. I would only allow it when they are old enough. Stop it. Stop it the lot of you. You're making me sound old, saying my kids will get married and all. No offense, I don't want to become a grandmother at this young age."

"Of course you don't." Yoshie agreed. "No mother wants their 15 or 14 year old daughter getting pregnant. That's a nightmare."

"Thank you, Yoshie for agreeing with me." Lisa huffed and nodded, putting her hands on her hips.

"Speaking of which, Lisa, how's _your_ love life?"

"My…wh-what?"

"Your love life." Noriko repeated herself. "I love thinking about you young romantic couples, and all the stories that go along with it. Is Koichi good to you?"

Lisa didn't answer, and instead slanted her eyebrows and looked straight at the ground.

"Huh? Earth to Lisa?" Yoshie tried.

Lisa still said nothing, but the intensity of ferocity on her face grew greater.

"Lisa?"

"I HATE KOICHI! HE ALWAYS DITCHES ME, PONYO AND SOSUKE AND LEAVES ME ALONE TO TAKE CARE OF THE KIDS! WHY SHOULD I LOVE HIM? I HATE HIM I HATE HIM I HATE HIM. AND WHENEVER HE'S GONE I WONDER IF HE'S ACTUALLY DOING WORK OR IS MESSING AROUND WITH SOME OTHER GIRL! HE LEAVES ME TO COOK, HE LEAVES ME TO CLEAN HE LEAVES ME TO TAKE THE KIDS TO SCHOOL AND TO SHOP! I HATE HIM! I HATE HIM! I HATE HIM! HE HARDLY EVEN KNOWS HIS OWN SON ANYMORE!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

That was the loudest Lisa had ever yelled anything. Everyone just stared at her. Even some of the workers on the inside stopped what they were doing and stared at her through the windows. She had realised that she was clenching her fists in the air, and she slowly lowered them and hid them behind her back.

"Aheh heh heh." she chuckled nervously and shuffled her feet on the ground. "Anyone for some ice cream?"

Yoshie, Toki, and Noriko stared in utter shock. It seemed that the impact from Lisa's voice blew their sunglasses off.

"Wow." Yoshie said, breaking he silence. "It looks like you need to find yourself someone else."

"Me?" Lisa said putting her hand on her chest. "But I couldn't possibly. Only wives on TV and celebrities can afford to go through a divorce. I couldn't possibly separate. That would be hard on the children."

"Nonsense." Toki said "Everyone is divorcing nowadays; it's like the new fad."

"That's horrible to say!" Lisa said.

"But a lot of people do it!"

"No no no no no. I'm not divorcing. Never! Never ever ever! Me and Koichi are going ALLLL the way."

"Ok. Suit yourself." Toki said finding her glasses on the ground and putting it on her forehead.

"Wha- Wha…Wait a minute! You can't just say divorce someone and go back to doing what you were doing as if it's a normal thing to say." Lisa said, stomping the ground with her foot.

"It sounds like you want more advice." Yoshie said.

"I-I do not. I was just hoping that you could…tell me something that could help me feel less like doing…the thing you just…said to…do."

"Alright, Lisa, just admit it," Toki said. "You really want advice…"

* * *

"Bye bye teacher!" Ponyo said waving goodbye when she retrieved her shoes from the cubbyhole of the kindergarten classroom. She grabbed Sosuke's arm before he could put his second shoe on and they ran outside.

"It's time to go home." Ponyo stated the obvious.

"I know, I know." Sosuke added. "Just let me put on my shoe!" He lifted his foot up high so that he could attempt to put it on, but before he could get it on, Ponyo spotted Lisa.

"There's your mom!" Ponyo pointed out, grabbing Sosuke and dragged him fast so that he had to hop all the way to his mom with one foot.

"WOOH! Ponyo, you're going to fast!" He finally managed to get the shoe on, but his foot wasn't entirely in.

Lisa bent down to their height. "Hey you two, how was school?" She greeted half heartedly.

"It was great!" Sosuke said. "We learned all about the sea and after our teacher taught Ponyo to raise her hand to answer questions, she raised her hand for every single question the teacher asked and she got them all right! Then she said that Ponyo was very smart."

"Is that true, Ponyo?" Lisa asked facing the girl with the strange ponytails still on her head.

"Mmhmm." she said smiling.

"Tomorrow, I better be the one to do your hair. Whatever happens, don't let Sosuke get near it."

The drive home was tiring. The good thing about having 5 year olds was that they didn't notice the expression on Lisa's face that clearly suggested that she had a really long lecture about getting along with her nonexistent husband.

Swivelling through some cars on the high elevated mountains, Lisa yawned and listened to the many stories that Sosuke and Ponyo had to tell however she wasn't paying attention to some of them. Most of the time she would answer, 'mhm,' and they wouldn't get the idea that she wasn't listening.

Now she was speeding three times over the limit. All she wanted was to get home. Get home _real _fast. Pressing her foot harder on the accelerator she saw trees whooshing past and blending together into one pure colour of green. Soon they were near home.

"Almost there…" she thought, "Almost-

A flash of orange appeared before her, and her eyes caught a glimpse of a man standing in the middle of the road coming right at her…well actually the car was zooming towards the man like a bolt of lightning. Immediately she pushed her foot on the brake and the car dangerously screeched to a halt.

Eyes wide, and a heart beating widely, she stared into the calm man's face, less than a metre away, who gave a daunting smile and looked as if he didn't even know she was about to kill him with her car. Angrily she got out of the car, slammed the car door wildly and stomped towards the lunatic.

"YOU IDIOT! You know I could have just killed you?" She yelled, invading her perpetrator's space. "You don't just stand in the middle of the road as if it's the friggin' red carpet!"

"Well, you seem quite obliged to welcome me. Serves you right to speed like that when the limit is 40 on this road." Fujimoto answered, almost as if he was laughing at her.

"For your information, buster, nobody goes on this road because the only house on it is ours. Therefore it doesn't matter if I speed or not." She growled pointing to the peak of the hill where their house stood. "You on the other hand should watch your tongue because if you're not careful I will saw it off and you'll be sorry."

Lisa was interrupted then, because Ponyo poked her head out of the car when she opened the door, undid her seatbelt and ran out. "DADDY!!!!!" She ran up to him, Sosuke following after her. "What are you doing here? Is mommy here? Is she? Does she want to speak to me? Where is she? Tell me where she is!"

"Um. Sorry Ponyo, but she's not here," Fujimoto assured the pleading child. "I was coming back from an errand and I just happened to pass here, I was wondering how my daughter is coping with the world now that she's human." He said more to Lisa than to Ponyo. "I was actually planning to compensate with you, Lisa. Now that you have two children on your hands and considering that one of them is my child."

"Well, maybe I don't need anything from you and can handle everything perfectly on my own."

"Oh…really? Even after that very interesting speech of yours you gave this morning in the senior home about your life at home struggling…"

"H-How do you know about that?" Lisa stepped back giving a look of dismay.

"Darling, your voice echoed off the waves. Pretty much the entire ocean knows about your constant battle between-

"Ok. That's just great." Lisa groaned. "Care for some tea _inside _the house, Fujimoto? Rather than standing _out here_ where _everyone_ can pretty much hear us conversing?"

"Uh, that would be satisfying."

* * *

The kettle broiled for several minutes. It was whistling when Lisa finally managed to get the kids to play outside near the water where they would have no means of listening in on their conversation. Ponyo was a sly child, and would meddle her way through to get in somehow, but Lisa and Fujimoto tried their hardest to convince her that their small chat would be about politics, ointments and something extremely tedious to a child.

"Well, that just about settles things," Fujimoto said clapping his hands together when they finally managed to get the two children out the door. "Now, where should we start?"

"I don't understand why you even bothered coming here." Lisa snarled.

"I told you already. I heard your sudden outburst, pretty much beseeching a better husband and I could not help but comprehend that my daughter is being raised in a broken family."

"We're not broken!" Lisa insisted. Fujimoto raised an eyebrow. "Well…not yet. And it never crossed my husband's mind…only…mine…Wait! Why am I telling you this?"

"Because maybe you realise that I'm not the lunatic you once thought I was."

"That's rude." Lisa snapped, and literally snapped in front of his face. "Just because you're some magic dude or mad scientist who lives under the sea, doesn't mean you should go reading people's mind. What are you anyway?"

Fujimoto chuckled. "I'd figure you'd ask that eventually. I'm a sea wizard…or witch or whatever you outlandish people like to call me."

"Well that explains your weird taste in clothes."

"Actually, that doesn't explain anything. I'm a little out of date in all your people's fashions. Three hundred years ago it was all mainly cravats and buttons, but now, I don't even know what you people wear."

"Are you saying your three hundred years old?" Lisa asked amazed.

"Yah pretty much," Fujimoto shrugged. "Wait, you're not surprised are you? After all, you already know that I've had children with a goddess."

"Well…true. But you look pretty good for a three hundred year old…You're not shrivelled up…Wait, you're starting to confuse me."

"What's confusing about eternal life?" Fujimoto inquired, sternly.

There was a high pitched noise and it was coming from the stove. The kettle's top was now bouncing as if the contents inside were about to explode.

"THAT'S THE TEA!" Lisa squeaked running to the stove, fanning the steam away and turning the dial. She looked through the cupboard to find two cute little teacups and shoved one into Fujimoto's hands. "Well, what are you waiting for? Sit down!"

Fujimoto gave a confused look then simply lowered himself on a chair near the table. "Regarding the tone of your voice, it seemed like I wasn't welcome to stay anymore."

"No! no! no!" Lisa said, contradicting his words. "You have to stay now, now that I found out your three hundred friggin years old."

Fujimoto sighed. "I'm not here to tell you _my_ life story. I'm here concerning you and Ponyo."

"Well, too bad. You've given me a slight bit interest and now you're waving your chances of letting me appreciate you away." She said, bringing the kettle over and pouring tea into his cup. "And besides, I've just poured tea into your cup, which pretty much forces you to stay unless you want me to tell your wife that you showed every bit of disrespect to me and left this house with your cup of tea still full."

"Since when was Granmammare my wife?" Fujimoto impulsively asked.

"Since…wha-what?" Lisa could swear her lips began to twitch. "Wow!" She began jokingly. "You're full of surprises aren't you?"

"Well think of it this way. Did Zeus, in the roman legends ever marry a commoner or the mortals he would cheat on his wife with? Did any god marry anyone below their status? Of course not! That's why Granmammare and I continue life as it is…unmarried."

Lisa held a suppressed giggle. "So…I guess, with her being a god and all, that means she's the man of the house!" Lisa burst out laughing. "Oh man. That means she could crush you if she wanted. Haha. That's so funny. If only I had that power over my husband."

"Shut up." Fujimoto jeered. "You're one to talk, not being able to raise kids on your own etc."

"Hey, it's not much work. I don't see where you got the idea that I couldn't raise them on my own. They are pretty much capable of raising themselves. Just the other day Sosuke taught himself how to add and subtract without my help and that's grade one rudiments."

"Kids grow up fast." Fujimoto agreed, "Soon they won't even listen to you anymore. I'm just glad that Ponyo's sisters are not following her footsteps. The world was imbalanced enough."

"You…need…to…reeeeeeeelllllaaaaaax. You know when you asked Sosuke not think badly of you? Well you said _that_ as if you had a diamond up your-

"What's your point?"

"Come back here tomorrow, because I am going to buy you clothes. _REAL clothes. _And I'm going to make you explore the _human_ world and see that we are not that bad. It will be like a mini vacation!"

"You call that a vacation?"

"IT'S A BLOODY BRILLIANT VACATION! Don't disagree with me. You don't know who you're talking to."

"I know who I'm talking to."

"Well, shut up because you are missing out on so much. You're missing out on ice cream, you're missing out on DDR, and you're are missing out on Facebook!"

"I uh-

Lisa stared at the cup in front of him. There had to be a way to make him stay longer or else she would go insane with absolutely no company her own age. "Shut up Fuj. I see I need to refill your tea cup…"

* * *

**Trust me...I have no idea where this is heading. But it's fun. Please review if you want. **

* * *


	2. Chapter 2: Koichi Won't Find Out

**So this is Chapter two. It's really strange and I wrote it at one oclock in the morning so if you catch any strange spelling mistakes or something you'll know why but I bet spell check caught them all. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: "Soichi Won't Find Out"

"I'm HERE!" Lisa said walking through the senior home doors and outstretching her arms to make a grand entrance. Of course, several heads turned her way including some seniors finishing their morning breakfast. Some of their breakfast even slopped out of their mouths, but Lisa, sort of grossed by the image, strutted in flailing her arms and tilting her head high in a sort of march…

"Late _again _Lisa," one of her coworkers, Kyra said carrying a large basket with large white cloths. "Sosuke again?"

"Sosuke again!" Lisa nodded, walking towards the counter to throw her coat and purse down. "How'd you guess?" she added sarcastically. "That boy is driving me…"

"Bananas?" the woman finished for her.

"No. That's where you're wrong. I like bananas. I would never use them in that context." Lisa radically answered.

"Jeez, Lisa you're not yourself today," Kyra insisted. "You're too anxious to be, Lisa and you're not sour enough either... The _real_ Lisa wasn't abducted was she?"

"No." Lisa growled.

"Personally I think something went into your brain and made it fuzzy."

Lisa leaned in towards Kyra and looked back and forth. One senior was staring at them, but the frail, fat woman looked like she was really staring off into space or right through them, so Lisa pretty much thought it was safe to tell. "Kyra," she whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"

Kyra looked surprised. "Uh. Yah, sure. Are we authorized to keep secrets in a senior home?"

"I don't know." Lisa scoffed "Who cares? Anyway, lean in closer, cause I don't want anyone hearing. I made plans with this guy for today."

"A guy?" Kyra whistled, "Is it a date?"

"No, no, no." Lisa interposed. "I'm just taking him shopping, we'll have a decent chat, I'll take him to Starbucks, and so what do you think?"

"Shopping? Poor guy…Well if you're only taking him shopping, why are we keeping this a secret?"

"SHUSH keep your voice down!" Lisa hushed, "Because if any of this information leaks out somehow, and escapes to the abyss where a little birdie will flutter by and let my husband know about this, my husband will go berserk. For crying out loud! He wouldn't even let me shake another man's hand."

"Oh, I see." Kyra suddenly understood. She glanced at the old lady who was staring right through them but was now smiling. Lisa wondered what the heck the old lady was thinking about. "Hey Lisa," Kyra broke out, "Is the guy handsome? Is he single?"

Lisa stood thinking for a moment, then unexpectedly sucked in the air, gave a puffed up look and straggled her words, "Um…no. He's not single. He has a wife and is definitely married. He's definitely married! And he is definitely not going to date anyone else. Never! And did I mention he is ugly? He's uh…Very very very very ugly!"

It was strange that she was spitting out _those _words because she new very well that Fujimoto was _not_ married, considering she found out yesterday and she knew to herself that he was actually not _bad_ looking at all. Of course, if he would get enough sleep to purge the circles under his eyes, maybe get a slight nose job, and look a few years younger he might actually be qualified as _hot. _However, that was too many steps for perfection and Lisa still didn't like him…or so she convinced it never really crossed Lisa's mind until Kyra asked if she could get hooked up. Kyra wouldn't be a good date for him anyway…or was that it?

"Um...Lisa?" Kyra said, pulling Lisa out of her trance. Lisa, once again had her fists in the air as if she was trying to make a speech for a political activists group. She didn't realise she was doing that until now.

_Dammit! Why do I always end up being stuck in this position at the end of a speech? _Lisa thought.

"I get it… I see what you're trying to do." Kyra said slyly, placing the basket on the counter, and putting her hands on her hips. "You think you've found the _one. _The one man you wished you married instead of Koichi, and you want him all to yourself."

_Dammit Dammit! Why does everybody think I'm splitting up with my husband? _"That's not it at all!" Lisa snarled. "Koichi is very loyal, I love him a great deal and I will never feel the same way about anyone else."

"It didn't sound like it yesterday, when you pretty much shouted your misery to everyone."

_Dammit Dammit, Dammit! How come the entire world knows about my sudden outbreak? _Lisa looked cross. "Now listen, you." She said sternly, "Not another word about this to anyone. You got that?" She peered at Kyra with a keen eye, and observed her thoroughly. "Somehow, my 'sneaky birdie- who is going to tell my husband everything-' radar is flashing at you."

"You have my word, Lisa." Kyra smiled, crossing her heart. "Why are you shopping with this guy anyway?"

"Don't ask. I was about to run him over yesterday. I thought it would be kind of me to offer him some tea and I just suggested I do something about his weird taste in clothes. It would be good anyway. If I spend all my life in my house or here, I think I will go mad. It would be nice to make a new friend, however he's no friend. With him I feel like I'm just preparing myself to be a tour guide."

"Tour guide?"

"Don't ask…He doesn't know the world like we do." Lisa sighed.

"A foreigner."

"Yah…I guess you could say that."

"Sounds mysterious."

"Sounds like an asshole. For some reason I just insisted we go shopping today. Is it crazy to ask someone you dislike out? It's not like I want to get to know him. It's that I _have_ to get to know him. You could call him my Sosuke's future father in law."

"Oh! He's Ponyo's father? So he _is _married. I thought you were lying before."

Lisa hesitated, knowing that Fujimoto still _wasn't_ married and that she _did _lie before. Kyra was too oblivious to notice. "Uh…yah." she answered, making it less confusing for Kyra. Lisa fell silent not knowing what to say next. She could swear she heard crickets in the background. Breaking the silence she said, "Right then…I better go and help you-know-who then."

"Toki? Right! See you later." Kyra said cheerily.

"Swear you won't mention it to anybody." Lisa stopped in her tracks.

"I swear!" Kyra picked up the basket she was carrying earlier and went to the laundry room.

"Liar…" Lisa grumbled to herself once Kyra was out of earshot.

* * *

"Koichi! It looks like we're in for another rough night. According to the weather report, we'll be stuck in a storm. I'd suggest calling your wife now, and telling her that you won't be home for dinner until tomorrow!" The chief of the ship called out.

"No, problem, I'll call her later." Koichi said, peering off the side of the deck, his hair blowing with the wind, and holding his hat so that it wouldn't blow off his head. "I'm sure she'll be fine with it. I've done this many times before."

"Somehow I get the idea she _won't_ be fine with it, considering the fact that she said 'Bug Off' a million times using Morse Code last time we past your house."

"Eh! That was just a bad night for her." Koichi shouted over the wind, and giving a beaming smile. "I'm sure when I come home; she'll run into my arms and hug me to show me she loves me more than anything. Boy, she can't cook much but I don't mind. When I come home, there'd be noodles waiting on the table and I'll say to her, 'there's not another woman in the world who can cook like you' and she'll smile at me lovingly and answer, 'Oh Koichi, I love you so much.' and my boy will run into my arms and ask, 'daddy! Can we go fishing tomorrow with Ponyo?' that's what my family is like. And that's what it will be like for as long as I live."

"Boy, that's some fantasy you've got, kid." The chief snickered.

"But it's true, Bill." Koichi said devastated to hear his thoughts are fictitious. "Lisa can't get enough of me!"

Bill just raised an eyebrow, and then patted Koichi's shoulder. "Just hope for the best, Koichi. Hope that fantasy can merge into reality. Just hope…do nothing more."

* * *

"He should call any minute now," Lisa said looking at her watch eagerly and sitting on a chair facing the front door of their house next to a stool with a phone sitting and waiting for a caller. Sosuke and Ponyo stared over her shoulder.

"Why are you just sitting here mom? You usually have something to do!" Sosuke remarked. "What are you waiting for?"

"Yah! _Who_ are you waiting for?" Ponyo corrected.

"I'm meeting your father today, Ponyo. Fujimoto and I have some things we need to discuss so we are going to be out for a little while." Lisa exclaimed.

"But he was here just yesterday! Wasn't that enough _time_ to discuss politics?" Ponyo shrugged and looking at the ceiling. She was obviously trying to roll her eyes but her attempts were feeble. "Is he trying to stalk me or something?"

"Ponyo, where did you learn that word?" Lisa hesitated, "And no, he's not coming here, I'm meeting him. You can come if you want. We're only meeting on _my _behalf."

"No WAY." Ponyo

"Why don't you want to see your dad, Ponyo?" Sosuke asked curiously. "He seems nice. He told me to not think badly of him and shook my hand."

"It's because he hates humans! He hates them he hates them he hates them! He wouldn't let me do anything I wanted either." Ponyo crossed her arms and looked away snobbishly.

"Ponyo, maybe it was because of he was worried about your safety." Sosuke suggested with a twinkle in his eye.

"What's with you and safety, Sosuke?!? Safety this, safety that! It's always about saaaaaafffffttteeeeyyy…"

Lisa was too preoccupied -watching the phone- to hear Ponyo's whining. What would have disturbed her, if she _had_ been listening, was how much Ponyo sounded like a married adult, but most of all a married _wife_. It was almost one step closer to her married years.

"…You always talk about safety. You even think I'll drown in the water if I'm not careful. Sosuke! I'm a fish! A FISH! A FISSSSHHHH!"

The phone rang, interrupting Ponyo's ramblings. Lisa came back to reality and immediately answered the phone.

"Hello? What? You're at a phone both?... Don't you have a cell phone?... Oh good, you actually _had_ one…I thought I was going to have to explain to you what a _cell phone_ was…What? You forgot it didn't work in water? Haha, serves you right. Ok I'll come by in 5 minutes. Don't you 'but' me. FIVE MINUTES OLD MAN! You got that?!"

Lisa hung up the phone fiercely, took a deep breath and then flung a piece of hair out of her eyes.

Sosuke and Ponyo stared silently. Ponyo had probably never seen anyone talk to her father like that. Her original mother was _too…_ nice. Lisa couldn't imagine Granmammare yelling at Fujimoto because they had huge electricity bills or he crashed the car or he accidently put his suit in the wash or his daughter turned into a human… _Granmammare really isn't human..._Lisa thought. _How can she be so patient with Fujimoto? How? _

Lisa got up from the chair and headed towards the coat rack to put on her jacket. "Sosuke, I'm going to be away for a few hours. I know how responsible you are. I prepared a supper for you and it's in the fridge. Just microwave it for 5 minutes and it'll be warm. Take care of Ponyo alright? And don't open the door for _strangers_. If your father comes home or calls, tell him that I have some business back at the senior home…Wait no…If your father comes home, treat him as if he was a stranger. "

"Uh…Ok." Sosuke said, looking back and forth at his mom preparing to go out. "Goodbye mom…I guess."

"Goodbye sweetie, I love you both mountains and mountains."

"Goodbye!" Ponyo said changing her mood entirely.

With that, the door creaked open and Lisa stepped out, shut the door and left leaving the two children in a very quiet house.

* * *

"_5 minutes, _you say...It took you more like half an hour." Fujimoto said leaning on the side of her car and talking through her window after Lisa pulled into the driveway of a nearby gas station.

"It's not my fault," Lisa jeered, "Traffic is getting worse and worse by the minute on this island."

"Well if you would have allowed me to take you through the ocean, it would have been twice as fast, judging there's no traffic in the ocean..." Fujimoto sighed and rubbed his temples. "I can't believe I'm saying that! I didn't even want to go shopping with you in the first place."

"Listen, you. I refuse to breath through a bubble. It gives me claustrophobia. Just get in the car, or I will tie you up and put you in the trunk _myself_. I learned how from my uncle's cousin's sister in law's boyfriend's brother. We're connected to the mafia you know. " Lisa lied.

"Is that so? You may be connected to the mafia, but I have control over the sharks and the piranhas, so there's no winning this argument. " Fujimoto said, before he walked around to the other side of the car and let himself in. "Ooo. Leather seats…fashionable." He added, observing the inside of her car.

Lisa turned the engine on and it began roaring little too loudly. Lisa pulled a piece of gum from her purse. "Gum?" She offered.

"No thank you." Fujimoto declined.

She unwrapped a piece and started chewing. The car began to move. "Shit, I hope there isn't a hole in the muffler. My car didn't sound like this, this morning."

"I know young teenage boys poke holes intentionally in their mufflers to get that deafening bothersome sound from their car. For some reason they think it is attractive. They may think so, but it doesn't do much for the ocean in terms of pollution. Not to mention they violate so many rules. It's highly opposed though I'd doubt you'd do it deliberately…unless Sosuke pulled it off…" Fujimoto exclaimed leaning in his chair and resting his head on his hands.

"Sosuke would never do that, How do you know this kind of stuff anyway?"

Fujimoto raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think I spend my entire life in the ocean living in what you could pretty much compare to as solitary confinement? No…It can get tedious at times."

"Well don't you have Granmammare to keep you company?"

"Hardly. She's never at home…" Fujimoto sighed with a slight hint of melancholy. "She leaves me alone the majority of the time."

"Hey! There we go!" Lisa laughed. "We actually have something in common, you and me. Our spouses leave us alone at home. However, be thankful you don't have it half as bad."

"What do you mean?" Fujimoto asked.

"I have to raise 2 children. 2 children! Imagine that! Not to mention, ALONE. Do you know what the newspaper said the other day? It said that it costs a quarter of a million dollars to raise a child. And I have two children! Half a Million dollars of my life, GONE! That is, depending on how spoiled they are or become."

"Excuse me?" Fujimoto interjected. "_You _have _two_ children. _I _have almost _four hundred _children. Can you establish a difference there?"

Lisa swivelled around a car. "Yah, but they're fishes. You only have to feed them that cheap fish food you buy at the store. You don't even have to buy them clothes."

"Lisa, they are not _pets_. You don't buy your _daughters_ fish food."

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't get mad at me. I was just stating the truth. Why are they fishes anyway?"

"It wasn't my idea...I don't even know why I bother telling you." Fujimoto shrugged his shoulders and looked out the window. "Granmammare thought it would be easier for me to keep them all in order, but it saddens me that I can't have a normal discussion and really get to know each of them personally. Brunnhilde, I mean…Ponyo was our first child and she was actually human before Granmammare decided to transfigure her into a fish. From then on, Granmammare would bear only…fishes, as anomalous as that sounds…"

"Do you get along with your daughters?"

"Are kidding me? They are a living hell!" Fujimoto snapped turning back to face Lisa. "Do you know how many times I have to say, 'Girls! Respect your father!' It's a nightmare. Truly it is. I love them dearly, but it's a nightmare."

Lisa burst out laughing. "Sounds like fun."

Fujimoto folded his arms and hissed. "You humans have an odd perception of _fun_."

"No, but it is true. Do you know how much it pleases me to know that my children got their spunk from _my _genes? Or…Soichi's genes, which I would disagree with…"

"Ponyo inherited her mother's power." Fujimoto remarked. "I'm afraid she got her insolence from me. Believe it or not, I had a personality similar to hers when I was a child. Luckily I didn't have Wolfgang Mozart's scatological mouth."

"I knew you were full of surprises!" Lisa howled, banging her hand on the side of the wheel. "You even knew Mozart. WOW. Did you know Picasso by any chance? He inspires me to be a painter even though I have absolutely no intention of becoming one."

"I can't know every famed person in the world, Lisa. And besides, half of them only become famous until they die."

"You have a point there but-"

A truck cut Lisa off very swiftly and she was so close to sliding into it. "Arrgh. Bugger!" She yelled out the window honking the horn. "Bastard. Come back here were I can cut your _dangly bits_ off!" She turned to Fujimoto. "That bugger won't see daylight when I get to him. If I had a speedy car, perhaps it would be easier to get him back."

"Road rage isn't very tolerable, dear." Fujimoto cut in, patting her shoulder. "No offense, but you drive like an aspirant stunt devil on the pinnacle of madness."

"That's my middle name! I hate this car. It's a piece of junk. So technically I don't care what happens to it. Don't you have a license? Haven't you ever needed a car?" Lisa asked keeping a close eye on the truck ahead of her.

"Yes…back in the 70s in my selfish years I dreamt of having a Lamborghini even though it makes a critical impact on the ocean. Now I look back to the Countach model and I realise how boxy it appears as apposed to the slick cars you see today, but at the time, the model was really something."

"So you mean the Countach with those futuristic looking doors?"

"Mhmm. When the Countach's first models came out they didn't have a name for them and so they figured they would see what the reviews said and name it based on that. In one of the foreign reviews it said somewhere in the article '_countach_.' and they thought that was a moderately professional and slick sounding word so they named the model after that word. It wasn't until later that they discovered that the word 'Countach' has the equivalent meaning of 'holy shit'. So I really wanted to buy a Lamborghini Countach. I'd be driving a 'Holy Shit' in translation (Excuse my language)…It was funny at the time."

Lisa laughed. "I didn't know that. Whatever _this_ car model is called, I bet you the translation of it translates 'Piece of Shit'!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it did…"

* * *

Koichi stood on the top floor of the ship, and now the wind blew only chilly gusts. He looked up at the sky and saw that there were sheets of dull, greyish, puffy clouds overhead. It would rain soon and he had no intention of staying on the top deck in the mists of an approaching thunderstorm.

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and punched in his home phone number. This would be the moment where he called Lisa and told her he wouldn't be back until tomorrow. The phone rang…it rang…it rang.

"Hello?" A voice answered innocently. It was Sosuke's voice on the other end.

"Hey ol' buddy ol' pal. How's it going over there?"

"Fine."

"Listen I need you to do a huge favour. Can you tell your mom that I won't be home tonight as usual? I can't shift, and there's a storm heading this way, so there's not much we can do about getting back onto land."

"I can't really-

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!" A voice shouted, interrupting Sosukes.

"What's Ponyo doing now?" Koichi sighed.

"Oh, nothing." Sosuke answered. "She just discovered that the dinner Lisa left for us in the fridge is ham and some other stuff…now she's running around with the plate on her head…oh and it looks like she's doing an Indian ritual now."

"Dinner? Left in the fridge for you? You mean Lisa's not home?" Koichi asked with a worried tone.

"No… she left about an hour ago. But she says I can take care of us just fine. You should be really proud of me daddy, because I haven't opened the door for strangers and Ponyo and I decided to play board games and…"

Koichi wasn't listening. He was scrambling through thoughts as to where she could be. _She wouldn't be doing anything horrible,_ he contemplated,_ I'm sure she's not joining some lunatic club or drinking, I just hope she didn't join a feminist group. It's just I've never seen her participate in 'after work' activities. She would never cheat on me because she loves me too much…So I'll cross off that option._

"…Um…Dad? Are you there?"

"Uh…Yah son I'm here. Listen…Did Lisa say where she was off to?"

"Uh…Yah…she told me to tell _you _that she's at the senior home doing a late shift. There's very important business she's got to attend to. I think Yoshie's false teeth are missing or something. Don't ask me. She wouldn't tell me much." Sosuke replied.

"Oh…" Koichi nervously laughed._ That explains the just of it._ "I see. Well, if all is well in our household then it's good to know."

"Are you going to come to dinner tomorrow? Because she called like three minutes ago here saying she we have a guest over to dinner tomorrow and that I need to remember to peel potatoes after school."

"Oh did she? That's unusual…Was she expecting me to come to dinner tomorrow, seeing that she's so used to me being away?"

"I don't know dad! Don't ask me. I told you already. She never tells me anything."

"Typical mother." Koichi mused.

"Typical father for asking too many questions about mom!" Sosuke snapped impatiently. "I'll see you whenever you get back home. I need to microwave our supper because Ponyo is getting antsy. Bye dad."

"Bye son?"

There was a faint click, and then the beeping came. Sosuke hung up on him. Koichi was trying to recall what Lisa planned this week. Nothing in particular…For now, he would take Sosuke's word that she was at the senior home. She really wouldn't be doing anything excruciating would she? _I mean would she?_

Instead he shook that thought away from his mind and closed his cell phone slowly. _Of course not! It's like I said earlier, I am going to come home and she is going to run into my arms with dinner ready on the table. _He was sure of himself. And what made him in a good mood was the way Sosuke hung up on his father like that. That took a lot of spunk. And he couldn't help believing _those_ _genes_ came from him…

* * *

**Hehehe. I think the next Chapter will be called, "Dinner With Fujimoto." And that's when Soichi and Fujimoto meet for the first time and have to cope with eachother. I can't wait to do that scene, because I can really see their reactions towards eachother, and they're not very pleasent ones. But I can't say I like Soichi...**

**Don't Worrrryyy. I havn't gotten to the shopping yet but I will :) **

**_Thank you for the Reviews by the way. They are really fun to read, cause I like taking your sugestions and incorperating them in somehow. :D_**


	3. Chapter 3: A Really Short Chapter

**Sorry I didn't update so soon. I was waiting for some reviews and I don't update when there aren't any, but today is my special exception! I had a weird dream that Lisa, Fujimoto, and Ponyo were trying to urge me to steal the bubblegum machine at Wal-Mart, and it pretty much made me miss writing about them. So i felt the urge to write about them.**

**This is actually not the chapter "Fujimoto Comes To Dinner"...or whatever it's going to be called... that's coming next. So here's chapter 3 anyways…**

Chapter 3: A Really Short Chapter in Which Fujimoto Explains his Mortality

"Vonderful, vonderful. You are looking magneeefeeecent." The foreign woman said fixing Fujimoto's collar once he came out of the change room. She was the owner of the store and awhile ago, when Lisa and Fujimoto walked in, she _actually_ complemented Fujimoto's sense of style. She had thought he was a rock star, and asked if he owned a house in Monte Carlo, where only millionaires live.

When he answered no, she looked disappointed but she wondered why such a fancy dressed man would walk into her shop. Lisa had explained that she wanted to spiff up his style. After that, the foreign woman gave Lisa a dirty look.

When Fujimoto walked out of the change room, he was wearing a navy blue jacket and a dark button up shirt, which complemented his hair and that's when the foreign women started crawling all over him.

She continued her ravings. "All the ladies will crawl all over you!" she remarked ina strong accent brushing invisible dust off his jacket. Lisa crossed her arms and gave a good look at him.

"You're no super model, yet" Lisa scoffed.

"And you're no fashion critic either…What are you trying to make me be?" Fujimoto asked coldly. "Fabio?"

"That's possible…" Lisa said, hand on her chin. "You _do_ have the long hair. But _you're_ a stick and he's _real_ macho."

Fujimoto rolled his eyes and sighed while the foreign woman inspected him. "I'm being held hostage," he whispered to the woman. "Save me from her clutches..."

The foreign woman chuckled and eyed Lisa. _Lisa_ gave a dirty look to both of them. "You ought to be careful what you say," she began, "Look on the bright side…It's better than being held by a leash." She went up to him, forced the foreign woman to step back and did up his jacket partway. "You know, I'm just using you to keep me whole and sane, because if I don't talk to another adult who's about my own age, my brain is going to look like Koichi's diarrhoea."

"That's a delightful description." Fujimoto's words flaunted sarcasm. He bent down low so that only Lisa could hear. "You are forgetting, however, that I am three hundred years old and you have not even lived a fraction of my life."

"Take off your jacket, Fujimoto. You are wearing this to dinner tomorrow."

* * *

"So _this_ is my discovery of a lifetime and I get jealous of those who walk around with them when I don't have one. ­Don't forget, _I_ discovered it before anyone else did, and for some reason everyone gets them, now." Lisa exclaimed, coming to the table of the Starbuck's coffee shop with two drinks in her hands. Fujimoto was already there, sitting and waiting. "A Starbuck's Vanilla Frappuccino!!!!" Lisa presented, handing the drink over to Fujimoto."

"And this drink is your famous discovery?" Fujimoto said raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, and it's a damn good one. The _best_ discovery _ever_. Better than that Twilight book or whatever it's called everyone's going crazy about."

"Hmm. I see." Fujimoto said unimpressed. He took the straw and the cap off and drank it like a normal drink which was typical for him…

"Speaking of _Twilight,_ you're not a vampire are you, because you're _really_ old?"

Fujimoto began to choke on his drink and laughed. "Vampire? Never. The sight of blood disturbs me. It would be unfortunate if I ever became one, because then I would have to starve to death."

"Are you immortal, then?" Lisa asked, drinking her own Frappuccino.

Fujimoto hesitated, and then spoke. "I shouldn't tell you this because there are many others who would want to kill me. Gran Mamare and I rule of waters of the Pacific Ocean, but there are others who rule the Atlantic, the Arctic, the Indian Oceans, the lakes the rivers, you name it.

In the Atlantic there is an empire which believes it's their obligation to claim as many of the oceans as they can, and if they can get all the oceans under their grasp, they can create their own dictatorship and control the currents and volcanic activity underneath the ocean. If I let them claim this side of the world, they will obliterate the human race, which is their way of embellishment.

I may not like humans, but I know where to draw the line when we control the oceans, and I would not be satisfied if my original race was drowned."

"Oh…wooh…I had no idea there was an empire under the ocean." Lisa explained, "How long has this been going on for?"

"Oh, hundreds of years." Fujimoto said changing to a more optimistic tone. "There's nothing to worry about. No, one knows how to claim this part of the sea waters."

"Which leads you to explaining that you are not mortal…" Lisa said waving her hand to continue.

"Oh…right." Fujimoto said. "The only way you can kill me is if humans pollute the ocean a great deal, and when I _say a great deal_, I mean _a great deal._ It was the way Gran Mamare's cousin got murdered. He was Citarum of the Citarum River, but the humans there treated the river like a dump site to the extent that there was no way to cleanse it. When he gradually got frail, and incapable of nourishing the waters he became mortal, the Atlantic found out, caught him, impaled him and left him to bleed to death."

"Poor guy."

"I never knew him, and Gran Mamare never liked him particularly. The Atlantic have the Citarum River under their control now. I just know to prevent trauma if ever such a case occurs, nevertheless, I can not give up the sea. I'd disdain myself if I gave it to those Atlantic fools. "

Lisa nodded. "Well if they come, I'll teach them a lesson and whack them in the nose…or I'd just lie and tell them that I have a black belt."

"It's sweet of you to suggest that, but no offense darling; you'd be killed in the blink of an eye." He explained, stirring his Frappuccino with a straw. "Besides, the chances of them ever taking over are very seldom."

"I know but it's exciting, more exciting then when Harry Potter 7 came out."

"Harry what?"

"Harry Potter, it's a good book, you should read it."

"Ah, I see."

Lisa looked at her watch. "Crap." She said standing up and grabbing the shopping bags. "It's getting late, and we better go. I bet Koichi called and is wondering where the hell I am. I told Sosuke to tell him that I was at the retirement home instead, you see."

"Why would you do that?"

"Koichi doesn't like it when I associate with other guys. He only allows it when I am with a gay guy."

"So that was a little pretence to set him off in the wrong direction?" He guessed putting on his jacket."

"Exactly."

* * *

**Yah...sorry it's sooo short. I'm just not in the mood to write really long chapters anymore. Please Review.**

* * *


	4. Chapter 4: Winnie the Pooh

**Author: Yah...sorry it took so long to update. For some reason the Document Uploading manager thing wouldn't convert my files so that I could post anything. It's strange. I _finally_ managed to get it working though. I've made new resolutions. I am no longer going to say what chapters are _next_ because my predictions are _always _wrong. This story is turning out to be a lot longer than I expected and no, this chapter is not called, Dinner with Fujimoto...**

**Chapter 4**

A Darn Good Reason to Watch Winnie the Pooh

_Dingalingalingalingaling. _

Lisa opened her eyes to the blinding light. When it was too much to bear, she stuffed her head back into her pillow, and hit the top of the alarm clock so that the irritating sound would stop.

Lisa groaned. It was yet another day. '_What day is it? Friday? Thursday? _

_No wait…It is Wednesday!' _Luckily, Wednesday was her day off but she also knew that having _Friday_ off was much more relevant and that she would have to go into work one day and ask her boss if she could take Friday off instead.

'_You know what that means!' _she thought digging her head deeper into her pillow. '_I can't sleep in because I still have to take the kids to school! YAYYYYY.' _

She didn't move and drowsily pulled the covers over her head. It wasn't until later that someone opened the door to her room and shouted,

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!"

Ponyo ran into the room, and jumped on the bed so that she could pounce on Lisa. Lisa groaned. "Five more minutes."

"Mom, you have to take us to school." Sosuke's voice cut in. He must have just walked into the room, because Lisa didn't recall him being there when Ponyo came in. Ponyo was jumping on the bed and it made Lisa's head bounce on the pillow which didn't help her sleep much. She could swear that Ponyo's jumping would do some damage to the springs and that her fine white mattress would no longer be comfortable.

"Ok, ok." Lisa gave up, "Get your things ready, I'll be up in two friggin seconds."

"YAAAAAAY" Ponyo shouted gleefully, landing on the floor with a _thump_ and running out of the room to get her things ready, swiftly. Lisa remembered when she was a child and could run around non stop as if your fuel gauge was pointing to _full_ all the time.

Why was it that children, who are always on an ultimate high, meagrely reply, "NO NAP" when you simply suggest they have a nap? Lisa would have _loved_ to have a nap especially just a few more minutes of sleep.

When she finally forced herself up, she rubbed her eyes, and looked at her dull appearance in the mirror. For a split second she reminded herself of Fujimoto, for she had circles under her eyes, but her morning bed hair and her white PJs were the only things that convinced her that she didn't magically swap souls with Fujimoto like what happens in the Freaky Friday with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Lisa _did, _however believed she was starting to look like the crypt keeper which was a strange analogy, considering that she was just thinking of the Freaky Friday movie.

This was her daily routine of waking up. She saw her frightful appearance, hid her sleep deprived look with a bit of cover up, smelt her breath in her hand to get an idea of how much toothpaste she would need to put on her toothbrush (which would usually be half a tube), then go downstairs to eat her every day bowl of cinnamon toast crunch. Of course the kids preferred Reese's Puff Cereal, but ever since Lisa saw rabbit droppings, it spoiled her appeal of Reese's Puff Cereal.

"It's time to go, you two." Lisa said at the front door, attempting to put on her jacket. "Come on. You were the ones complaining that I was sleeping in. Move your butts."

"Coming!" Sosuke and Ponyo said running into the front hall with their packed lunches. Lisa noticed that Sosuke was carrying a bucket full of water.

"What's that?" Lisa asked crossing her arms.

"Oh this?" Sosuke asked holding the bucket higher, "Ponyo and I found a hermit crab, yesterday. Don't worry mom, we'll take care of him. I'll be _really_ responsible."

"Ahuh." Lisa mused. "You know how your teacher doesn't like animals for show and tell."

"But mom maybe-

"No. Sosuke, leave the crab here. Maybe it's better if he's here. There's less of a chance that he'll get eaten by a cat or a bird."

"But-

"Sosuke." Lisa said sternly. "Remember what happened to Ponyo when you brought her to school? Well I think it's for the best."

Sosuke looked down. "I guess your right." He said solemnly. He placed the bucket on the front counter. "Stay here, Mr. Whiggins." He assured the crab, "Ponyo and I will be back for you soon."

Lisa wondered if she was too harsh on Sosuke. "Hey, don't worry, Sosuke. I'll be home to take care of him." She guaranteed, winking at him. "Are you ready to go Ponyo?"

"Ready!" Ponyo answered, smiling as far as her lips could curl.

* * *

Fujimoto paced back and forth in his underwater lair. Within the great bubble, where all his daughters were kept, all seven hundred and eighteen daughters were watching him intently. Their heads would turn back and forth corresponding to his frustrated pace, and all of them seemed like they were waiting for something interesting to happen. Perhaps he would trip. Perhaps another sister would want to turn into a human. Perhaps a giant squid would rip the lair open and eat their father.

Yes, it was very boring being a fish, so they pretty much hoped for something to happen even if it was an extreme dilemma. Hey, if there was a dilemma they would have front row seats.

"How do I leave a note to your mother without making it seem obvious?" Fujimoto asked his many daughters. His daughters exchanged looks and clearly suggested they had no idea what the hell he was talking about. "Right, you girls are only 2, how the heck did I expect you to speak any English at all?"

Again, the girl fishes exchanged glances. They all garbled in high-pitched voices but it was all gibberish, and not a single piece of advice flowed through any of their mouths.

"Well that's just great." Fujimoto mumbled, "I'm speaking to fishes that can't even speak fish, let alone, English." He brushed off dust off his shirt and composed himself very elegantly, giving his daughters a sly look. "Well in that case I can pretty much say _anything_ to you. If you girls think you're so smug you'll be happy to know that I-snuck-in-human-icecream-and-ate-it-secretly-behind-your-backs-then bought-myself-a-stash-of-Pringles-and-Lays-chips-so-that-your-mother-would-be-pisst-that-I-ate-human-food-and-that-I-totally-disregarded-her-rules-and-that-I'm-sick-and-tired-of-being-stuck-with-seven-hundred-and-eighteen-know-it-alls-alone,-even-though-you-don't-even-know-how-to-speak-english-or-french-or-latin-or-german-which-I-slaved-over-when-I-was-your-age-and-that-I-hate-having-to-watch-every-action-you-girls-do-and-hope-you-don't-mess-around-with-the-wrong-people! I hate this _save the cheerleader, save the world_ business. It's predominantly exhausting!"

After Fujimoto's long and plucky speech, the girls merely watched him. All seven hundred and eighteen eyes were on him giving very curious looks. Fujimoto sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Something told me that you would have no reaction to that whatsoever. I deduce that I'm going to have to write this letter alone."

He walked to a desk in the corner of the room and picked up a feathered quill. Yes, after so many years of visiting humans he was still used to writing with the conventional pen and ink. Moving a ton of clutter off his desk, he picked up a piece of paper, placed it on the empty space on his desk and began scratching.

"Dear, _Gran Mamare (My loveliest, dearest, beautiful pearl...of the ocean?)_"

He said awkwardly writing the words quickly, and thinking, 'damn, I wish I paid more attention to my poetry teacher. I was never good at poetry...' He continued writing.

"_I'll be out late. Some unofficial business has caught my attention above sea level. I must heed to theses affairs, and you probably won't see me until late tonight, that is, if you're actually home. The girls have been acting ill-disciplined, and I've been at my elixirs to calm them down,_ _hence the shoddiness and tackiness of this letter._

_Love, Fujimoto."_

He finished his letter, with a final stroke of his pen, and then looked it over to see if he did a convincing job. It was lame, but it would have to do for now. And he added, _Love_ to give it more of a compassionate affect.

Fujimoto didn't like it when people asked him to come for dinner…well at least when he was human. The people who had servants at the time, he had no problem's accepting dinner from, for the servants were hired specifically for that purpose. But for people who couldn't afford servants, he felt bad, merely because the woman would have to cook for _more_ people. In this day and age, he knew nobody had servants anymore. Only the disgustingly rich had servants.

He didn't want Lisa to carry the burden of cooking by herself, and something gave him the idea that she actually didn't _like _cooking, so he felt it would be better if he went in unexpectedly and helped her. Perhaps _he_ would cook for her himself. Anyhow, she probably wouldn't like it if he dropped in early, but in this case, he didn't care if he annoyed her.

­

* * *

Lisa stumbled into the house. She had just dropped Ponyo and Sosuke off at school and was still tired from the morning. She hated that, when you get up in the morning for some stupid reason, you come back home and your still tired, yet you don't want to go back to sleep.

"WHY!!!! WHY ME! WHY!" She murmured. She almost knocked the bucket off the counter, and a splashing sound was heard. Some water landed on the floor, but luckily the hermit crab was alright. "Right...I forgot you were here. I suppose I should place you in a more suitable environment."

She ran into the kitchen and went through the cupboards to find their old fish tank. When she found the large circular container, she went out the screen door to head for the shoreline where she could fill buckets of sand and find other fish tank ornaments, when she came back, she decorated the fish tank and poured the bucket of sea water Sosuke brought, into the fish tank where the crab fell in as well.

"There." She announced swiping her hands to rid of the sand. "That should be better for you." She looked around the room grasping the idea that she didn't have much to do at the house alone. Feeling somewhat depressed, she microwaved some popcorn, turned on the TV, and turned on their DVD movie of Winnie the Pooh.

It was just about the only movie that was guaranteed to keep her in the state of mind she was already in, the state that is one level higher than _fully_ depressed.

'I don't feel like preparing anything for dinner right now, I'll just see what I feel like making when the time comes…" She thought, stuffing handfuls of popcorn in her mouth and watching the part where Winnie manages to get stuck in Rabbit's door.

'That reminds me of me.' She growled to herself. 'I'm just a big nothing stuck in some rabbit hole.' She grabbed some ketchup and smothered her popcorn in it without thinking.

_The doorbell rang. _

This was alarming. Lisa wasn't expecting anyone until later this evening.

"Oh crap, I hope it's not a salesman. I rather it be a burglar with a machine gun." She said standing up rapidly, almost knocking the big bowl of popcorn over. She stood with her shoulders back and head high as if to suggest she wasn't just watching something as juvenile as Winnie the Pooh.

She walked to the front door where she could see a tall, large silhouette on the other side of the window. "Oh, crap. It's a pervert. I knew it would be one of those." Instantly, she grabbed an umbrella from the basket near the shoe rack, and lifted it high so that if the pervert made any vile moves, she would get a clear blow right in the face.

The doorbell rang again.

"Coming in a second," She called to the stranger unsurely, creeping slowly towards the door. She turned the lock little by little, took a deep breath… then, with her heart beating wildly, she promptly swung the door open.

"Lisa I thought-

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! IT SERVES YOU RIGHT TO KNOCK ON MY DOOR, PERVERT!" She screamed shutting her eyes and whacking the stranger in the face with her umbrella.

"Shit! What the hell did you just hit me with?!" The stranger cursed; dropping a bunch of bags and falling to the ground…Lisa looked down at the paper bags he was carrying. They were _grocery_ bags and it was highly unlikely that a pervert would come knocking at your door with _grocery bags_. When she finally gained courage to look at the stranger- whom she just blindly hit- who was sitting on the ground at her door, she gasped.

Fujimoto was covering his right eye with hands and making sounds inflicted by pain. Lisa dropped the umbrella, rubbed her eyes, and looked at Fujimoto again to make sure it was actually him and not some hallucinated image. When she was sure it was him who knocked on the door, she muttered, "Oh crap," and got to her knees to help him up. "Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry!" She said, gathering up the grocery bags as well. "I didn't know it was you, you're supposed to be here this evening, not this morning. Not now!"

"I didn't want you to cook for me." Fujimoto notified, suppressing the pain. "I know this sounds strange, but I didn't want you to carry the burden yourself, so I thought I'd come by and… _cook _with you."

"Haven't you ever heard of a telephone?" Lisa scolded, finally managing to get him standing and leading him inside the house, with his arm around her shoulder. It was hard to carry the grocery bags and have him lean on you at the same time.

"I told you, I forgot I left my cell phone in my pocket when I went undersea and it obviously damaged the device."

"Well if you didn't want me to cook for you then you should have told me you wouldn't bother coming today." Lisa demanded. "I'm sick of you prowling men, only around to annoy women. Stop changing plans and stop 'going with the flow'! You go with the current everyday. You should have at least _some_ fixed plans."

Lisa led Fujimoto to kitchen where she sat him at the table and placed the grocery bags on the counter. Fujimoto sighed and shook his head. You could tell his head was aching, the spot where she had hit him with her umbrella. "I never said I _wasn't_ going to accept your invitation, in fact I was _quite_ obliged to come here. It's infrequent for me to plans with _any_ humans at all."

Lisa looked towards the counter, where she had just placed the bags. "What's with the grocery bags?" She asked tapping her foot lightly on the ground.

"I was thinking we could make Italian food, maybe Moroccan if you feel more up to it." Fujimoto indicated.

Lisa stopped tapping her foot, looked at him and smiled. "I didn't know you were big into cooking."

"Three hundred years of experience, dear." Fujimoto winked. "I have too many stories to share. You'd get bored of them eventually."

"But _experience_ interests me." Lisa explained, inching a bit forward to him.

"Ah, it's funny that you mention that, because there is a woman -who has a strange perspective of things and has a very short temper- that interests _me._

The two of them stared at each other for a moment and fell silent. Lisa didn't think it was an awkward silence because awkward silences only happened when you were struggling to think of another topic that would concern your comrade. For some reason, she knew he was thinking the exact same thing… unless he was the typical guy who pretty much imagined every woman they came across naked.

Something broke the silence and was coming from the other room.

_The wonderful thing about Tiggers,_

_are Tiggers are wonderful things_

_Their tops are made out of rubber_

_Their bottoms are made out of spring!_

_They're bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy,_

_fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!_

_The wonderful thing about Tiggers is that I'MMMMMMM the only one!!!!_

Lisa's eyes flew wide open. "Shit!! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" She cursed, banging her head against her palm several times. She headed towards the TV room in a scurry and Fujimoto laughed.

"You were watching Winnie the Pooh before I got here?" he asked under dormant chuckles.

She went quickly to the TV and turned it off. She had forgotten to turn Winnie the Pooh off when she went to answer the door. When she went back into the kitchen her cheeks turned scarlet. "Great! Now, you must think I'm a weirdo, or some creepy pedophile woman." She suggested.

Fujimoto waved his hands in disagreement. "No, no. I completely understand. I must admit, colours of cartoons do catch the eye."

"It's not because of the colours though! What movies are there to watch when the only people who watch TV in this house are five year olds? And besides, cartoons are heart warming and give a sense of luxury…especially Winnie the Pooh. When you are in a bad mood, you _must_ watch Winnie the Pooh."

"When you are in a…bad mood? Are you saying_...you were _in a bad mood before I got here?_"_ Fujimoto asked curious.

Lisa slammed her hands on the table. "Don't ask." She growled. "After I went shopping with you, yesterday, I came home to find out that Koichi _still_ wasn't home."

Fujimoto nodded. "I see," he enlightened. Enquiringly and probably wondering whether there was a bruise forming, he put some pressure near his right eye, and flinched in pain. "Ouch…I never saw what you hit me with." he explained.

Lisa snapped out of her daydream of kicking Koichi's butt. "Oh! Oh dear…I hit you with an umbrella." She said, realising that she left Fujimoto sitting at the table in a poor state. "We should probably ice that before it gets worse." She quickly grabbed a bowl, filled it with water, went to the freezer, pulled a couple of ice cubes out and dumped them in the bowl of water. Before she bent down to level herself with where Fujimoto sat, she grabbed a cloth, and soaked it in the bowl of ice water. When she figured the cloth was cold enough, she beckoned for him to lean in closer and started dabbing the spot where she hit him. He winced in pain a few times.

"I reckon I have something significantly close to a black eye… well actually, Ow… I probably _do_ have a black eye, now." Fujimoto muttered.

Lisa laughed, "With those circles you have under your eyes _all the time_, I don't think anyone will see the difference when you have a black eye."

"Well thank you." Fujimoto replied sarcastically. "You're remarkably rude. Somehow I thought you'd be a little more empathetic, seeing that you're a mother of two."

Lisa bowed her head. "Don't say that, Fujimoto. I _do_ have feelings; you know…I'm sorry if I come across to you as some hormonal, high strung woman who is stereotypical." Lisa stated sadly. She sighed and continued dabbing the cloth on his face. "I try getting to know people…I do! And I try opening new doors with them. Forgive me if I felt a little _passive_ at the beginning…But I know what you're thinking…and I'm sorry… I know I'm a horrible human being… "

Fujimoto shook his head, put his hand over Lisa's to stop her from dabbing over his eye and spoke in tender words. "Lisa, what you're describing is fallacious. I've seen what you can be. You're caring. You know what should be done in horrid situations. Why, you even risked your life to save those at the senior citizen's home back when the hurricane hit this island."

Lisa fell silent, and didn't know what to say to that. She looked down to the ground then smiled. "You're sweet Fujimoto, really."

"But it's true, Lisa." He interjected, "If I hadn't shown up on time, you would have drowned saving the senior's and whoever else was out there's life. You're heroic, Lisa. Truly."

"Shutup." Lisa said jokingly and putting on a smile. "You can stop saying all this mushy stuff, now. Maybe we should start cooking, because if we want a good meal, we are going to need to do some _hardcore _catering. Now…what did you buy?"

"Couscous, a ton of vegetables, pastas, spices, some meats, cheeses…some other stuff…" Fujimoto listed, standing up from his chair and walking around the kitchen to observe it.

"Great…then let's pre heat the oven!" Lisa said, doing the same, and clapping her hands together.

"But Lisa, we wouldn't need-

Fujimoto stopped in his tracks and stood still for what seemed like ages. He had just passed the fish tank where Sosuke's new crab dwelled and he turned pale as if he had just seen a ghost. Lisa guessed he had just noticed the crab after all this time. Backing up a few paces to get a clear view of the fish tank he asked, "Where did you get that crab, Lisa?"

Lisa shrugged thinking it was no big deal, but when she saw the almost disturbed expression on his face, she answered, "Sosuke found him near the shoreline this morning, or so he says." Lisa briskly walked towards the fish tank, "I presume you'd want us to give him back to the ocean then? I can guess you're touchy on the subject of keeping sea creatures in fish tanks. Sosuke would be sad, and Ponyo, maybe, but I guess I could convince him that the ocean is the best place for an aquatic crustacean to live."

Fujimoto shook his head, "No, no, it's not that." After a few glimpses at the crab he said, "That crab does not come from these waters. It's a species that amalgamates near Bermuda. If you know about the Bermuda triangle, it is the origin of the Atlantic Sea Empire. That's why a ship can not cross its waters without turmoil."

"So, what's so special about it? The crab Sosuke found is a rare find, that's all."

"That crab did not travel here on its own course." Fujimoto whispered. "It's a personal message to me…" He touched the edge of the fish tank, and ran his finger along it.

"The Atlantic will be here," He said, "and they're threatening to claim these oceans under callous circumstances…"

* * *

**Ooooo scary. O.o. It's not much of a cliffhanger though. I'm going to have to make things a little more exciting from now on. I must admit, so far, this was the most pointless chapter and I was going to add the dinner scene, but then this chapter would have been SOOOOOO long. Consider this a director's cut or somthing :D. I promise, the next one won't be so bad. But hey! Thanks for reading! People seem to like the GranMamare and Fujimoto couple a little more, and I don't mind that couple. I just could never imagine them living together as normal human beings. I could do a fanfiction on them too. Thanks for reading again. I love reading your reviews!**


	5. Chapter 5: A Big Shock for Gran Mamare

**A/N: Yay!!!! The next chapter is up! FINALLY! Even though I am not in University or College yet...I believe I am extremely busy doing extra ciricular activities and such. Apparently if I add up the hours of school and extra ciricular activities I experience a week, that all adds up to approximatly 64.5 hours. But that's not all...I have to practice piano about an hour each day, do homework etc...so if you take all that and add it up it would be like 70-90 hours...That's intense!!! I can actually say I have no life!!!! The average person is supposed to be busy 30-40 hours a week...therefore I have it pretty bad...**

**That concludes me to this notice...The-chances-of-me-updating-,often,-are-very-seldom...**

**BUT HEY!!! The new chapter is up and for all you Gran Mamare fans, we've got loads of her in this one! YAY! I don't _mind_ Gran Mamare. It's just that when somthing gets popular, I back away from it...like Twilight etc.**

**By the way. Thanks for the feedback. I started E-mailing people back if they send really long reviews and it's really fun when that happens. So please review!!!!**

* * *

A Big Shock For Gran Mamare 

A large silhouette whirled the depths of the oceans. The silhouette was not that of a large fish, but of a striking women, her hair, as red as strawberries and a smile as seductive as gold. Gran Mamare was sought to protect the dark waters of the pacific, but today she felt a lurking bitterness in the air which resonated with her work. By accident, she turned a coral reef brown, and allowed several fishermen to overfish.

But due to the eerie feeling, she was unable to reverse those faults. Whether she didn't have enough strength for it, or had the heart, she could not decipher. It was hard enough already taking full responsibility over the pacific with Fujimoto, and it wasn't as if humans were doing their part on keeping the system vigorous either. Gran Mamare could sense dilemmas with potential, and this time the stunts it would take to reverse those quandaries would be too great even for gods. They would have to wait for time to decay whatever it was. Time was the only thing greater than gods and spirits.

Gran Mamare, could no longer give a heart worthy smile. She swam down to help rather large fish get out of a piece of trash. It was the least she could do, considering now that her powers were failing. When the fish finally managed to get out, it scurried away as fast as it could without giving a simple nod or thank you. Gran Mamare sighed and stared off into the murky green waters.

"I know how yer feeling."

Gran Mamare didn't bother turning around to see whose voice it belonged to. She could tell that the voice belonged to no one other than her dear friend Soko the sand spirit. The fat, red cheeked man with a scruffy, sand coloured beard and long sheets of hair swam, lazily around.

"Soko…It's not gentleman like to startle girls." Gran Mamare mused, now preoccupied with blooming a couple of sea-anemones.

"But I see the young lady is in distress, and it's not very gentlemen like to ignore one's disputes either." Soko replied now doing a couple of somersaults. "I see Fujimoto isn't present. Still basking in his glory, is he? Or is he uptight about another one of those world imbalances?"

Gran Mamare turned around to face him. "Soko. The world may be imbalanced once again. Yet, I grow too feeble to interpret what it is exactly that is issuing this problem. This is no time to laugh and make scorching jokes…especially on the subject of my partner."

"Well…er. I suppose I'll…er…make note of that." Soko explained twiddling his thumbs. "I actually have news for yer."

"Yes?" Gran Mamare asked hastily.

"Word has it, that there are species coming in that don't actually belong 'ere."

Gran Mamare sighed. "Is that all? Of course the current sweeps in new creatures all the time. What could possibly be new about that? The Indian ocean gives us quite a lot of new surprises, don't they?"

"I'm gettin' to that." He continued. "There's not just a few, there are thousands, maybe even millions coming across, and they're not coming from the Indian ocean…They're coming from the Atlantic! Spirits all over are wondering whether ye, Gran Mamare, have a really bad cold or migraine or something because they can't believe ye don't notice! I was the only one willing to tell ye that yer making a huge mistake and that ye can't ignore something that will ruin our ecosystem."

Bedazzled and shocked, Gran Mamare nearly stumbled backwards. She covered her mouth and looked around, eyes wide. "You are positive about this?"

"Absolutely." Soko nodded.

"Absolutely positive?"

"I couldn't even have a second thought about it, I'm so sure." Soko assured her.

Gran Mamare slowly sat down on a nearby boulder, feeling very faint. She couldn't quite reprehend with what Soko was saying because she knew he was probably right. Everything she had done these past few days had resulted in something negative. If only she could possess a certain power to urge her on and set her to the right track.

"Soko?" She began, a single tear falling down her cheek. "Do you think I'm losing it?" Without hesitation she began to weep and her tears became sparkling bubbles floating high over their heads.

Soko swam down to her. "There, there, Gran Mamare. Yer not losing it. This happens to everybody. Soon when yer too good at something ye tend to overlook it, and that's when ye start doing a half ass job."

"Soko…please watch the language."

"Er…right. But that tells ye something," Soko suggested, patting Gran Mamare's back. "It means that ye got to get away from it for awhile. When ye stop doing it, ye realise the values to it. Trust me. Go do something ye don't often do, and come back to tending to the ocean a long while later. You'll see a big difference."

Gran Mamare wiped away the tears. "Your idea is obliging…I suppose. Though I would have to consult with Fujimoto first."

"Ye go do that, Gran Mamare. We'll be waiting for yer. Where is that man anyhow?" Soko asked.

"He's currently on land." Gran Mamare managed to say.

Soko coughed. "Blimey. On land? I thought humans revolted him. That man never makes up his mind. How do ye know he's up there?"

"Because he left me a letter." Gran Mamare pulled out the letter he left on the desk at home, and handed it to Soko. Soko skimmed the messy handwriting.

Dear, _Gran Mamare (My loveliest, dearest, beautiful pearl...of the ocean?)_

_I'll be out late. Some unofficial business has caught my attention above sea level. I must heed to theses affairs, and you probably won't see me until late tonight, that is, if you're actually home. The girls have been acting ill-disciplined, and I've been at my elixirs to calm them down,_ _hence the shoddiness and tackiness of this letter._

_Love, Fujimoto._

"Damn." Soko sputtered. "That man definitely doesn't have a mind for poetry. Not one of those romantic blokes, I'll bet. Or maybe, he never paid attention to his poetry teacher when he was a human lad. Nice effect though, using ink that doesn't spoil under water…"

"Soko…your point?" Gran Mamare murmured impatiently.

"Er…well...Right. Seek him out. Go and tell him that you're going to go away for awhile and that whatever it is that he has to deal with shall be dealt with on his own."

"I'd feel awful leaving him in this situation however." Gran Mamare objected.

"Don't be. Ye don't know how pleasin' it is to be a man alone. Men feel a bit freer when their wives are gone. It's not that they don't love em, if you know what I mean…"

"Soko…What do you suppose this means? I deduce that the Atlantic are sending them over on purpose, unless the sea creatures are coming on their own accord. Suppose it's a message, or a threat."

Soko fell silent. His right eye twitched and he reflected Gran Mamare's words in his head. After what seemed like a long time he whistled. "Go, I tell you. Go find Fujimoto and discuss it with him…but do it now while you have the chance."

Gran Mamare elegantly stood up and nodded. "Soko…I believe you are right. Fujimoto can handle things on his own. That's why I picked him in the first place and I know he will do a splendid job. My help around here is no longer practical. I shall find him and tell him."

Soko smiled and clapped his hands together. "Well that's settled then. I think you'd better be off."

Gran Mamare nodded, then turned on her heal and headed out towards the murky waters. Then reluctantly she stopped in her tracks. "There is only one problem," she stated.

Soko, looked at her divine figure enquiringly. "Yes, Gran Mamare, dear? What is it?"

She sighed and then said very disappointedly, "In all my years spending time with the fishes…I have never once set foot on land…"


	6. Chapter 6: Dinner With An Unexpected

**_Dinner With An Unexpected Guest_**

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no." Lisa said disturbed, glancing at the fish tank Fujimoto remarked on a bit earlier. Lisa and Fujimoto had been cooking all morning and afternoon that it seemed it was a good time to have a small, little break. Fujimoto had told Lisa to ignore the crab and get on with her life. With their stimulating conversations and fierce cooking, Lisa almost forgot about the small crustacean. "It's staring at me, Fujimoto. The crab is staring at me. Perhaps it's a spy!"

"Nonsense." Fujimoto replied, cracking eggs and letting them fall on the frying pan. "A crab has a brain equivalent to a bird's; it would have no means of transporting information. Nevertheless, I'd be cautious if I were you. It has your DNA all over it. If you were to let it go and somehow it was to drift back to the Atlantic, they would know I had made an acquaintance with you."

Lisa sighed with relief. "But that's just stupid. There's got to be a few thousand crabs like this in those waters. It would take them forever to figure out which one actually traced your steps."

"Crab's may be unintelligent, but that doesn't mean they can't be bewitched. There is most likely a spell on this one which forces it to find me or Granmamare and flow back to the Atlantic after it succeeded. It would go straight to them. You're just lucky Sosuke found it before it went back. I guess it's vital that I go into the ocean without you or anyone else. I could put you in danger."

"Danger? Hah. I laugh in the face of danger! Anyway, what's the danger? I put myself in danger every day by driving…or by living on this small island which could be struck by a hurricane any time…or by-

"The percentage of you getting killed in those situations is very diminutive. I'm being serious Lisa! You or any human individual would get killed in the blink of an eye if you happen to cross the Atlantic extremist group. You have to have skill."

"Oh…bragging are we? Skills? What kind of skills do you have, mister I-know-everything?" Lisa said very crossly. "You're starting to sound like me husband." Lisa crossed her arms, sat down at the kitchen table and huffed. She couldn't help plating with the spoon in the sugar cup. "I have skills…for instance…I'm great at multitasking."

"Not the type of skills you need to ward them off." Fujimoto chuckled. He stopped tending to his cooking and went to sit beside Lisa.

"So what now? We just let them send crabs and ignore them?" She asked slightly disappointed.

"I don't know. Whether it's a threat or a warning it would have to be handled the quite the same way. We must be pious under such circumstances…We, meaning Granmamare and I, and 'Granmamare and I' it will be…" when Lisa looked up with a bit of hope in her expression he added "…only."

"You spoil all my fun. What is the use of saving the world if I'm not included?" Lisa growled looking at the clock. "The kids should be right around finishing school now. I suppose I should leave to get them. We could finish the food when we get back." Lisa suggested. "You could stay here I suppose and wait for us to come back."

"Alright, I have to pull a few things out of the oven anyway." Fujimoto answered, standing up and going to the oven to set. "I might as well make sure the house doesn't catch on fire." They went into the front hall. While Lisa put on her shoes, Fujimoto held out her jacket for her and helped her put it on.

"Thank you." She said

"You're very welcome." Fujimoto replied.

With that, she went outside and closed the door behind her. Fujimoto sighed.

* * *

"Hey! Koichi! You're leaving? You sure you don't want to hang out just a little while longer with us and have a beer?" A voice called from the dock of the ship. The ship Koichi was on had just docked the island, and Koichi quickly packed his bags and lugged them on his shoulder. He stepped off the ship onto the deck and headed out to the parking lot while pressing the unlock button on his car keys.

He turned to face his comrade. "No." He shouted. "Lisa's going to kill me if I take anymore time and besides…the night that a woman's husband comes back after a long time is always the best, if you know what I mean." He winked.

The man on the deck chuckled. "You shouldn't be so cocky! You have enough children as it is!"

"Yah, well I wouldn't pass up the chance."

"Suit yourself. Call us if you change your mind."

"You won't here from me because I'll be having the night of my life." Koichi said after turning to walk to his car.

"Yah right…" with those last words the man disappeared behind the railing, and Koichi got into his car. Pleased with himself

"She's going to be so happy I'm home at last…" He said to himself.

* * *

"So how was your day Ponyo?" Lisa asked driving ferociously at the wheel. If Fujimoto were there, he would remark how poorly she was driving right now and how she should pay more attention to the road. When she drove him around earlier she could remember that he would curse every so often under his breath and cry small orders like, "Watch out for the cat!", "You're too close to his rear!", "Pedestrians do matter you know!" "What is this? Ten points if we hit the ice-cream man?"

"It was bad!" Ponyo answered snapping Lisa out of her thoughts of Fujimoto. "A boy pushed me and so I pushed him back… I got in trouble by the teacher."

"You didn't…" Lisa sighed.

"Well he didn't believe Sosuke when he said that I was a fish." Ponyo said snappily.

"Yah. He didn't believe me." Sosuke agreed.

"And he didn't believe me when I told him my mother was a goddess. So he pushed me when we won the argument so I punched him." Ponyo said disdainfully, her head in the air. "Sosuke also got in trouble with the teacher for calling me a _fish_."

"Oh Sosuke." Lisa said slapping her head. "But wait! Punched him, you say? Last time I heard, you just pushed him. Something tells me you are not telling the whole truth, Ponyo"

"I didn't understand why _I_ got in trouble because Ponyo is…or _was_ a fish. The teacher said that it was bad to call people 'fish' and that I was just lucky that Ponyo liked being called a 'fish'." Sosuke added.

"Sosuke…All I can say is "listen to what the teacher says from now on." Lisa said. "People are not used to little girls claiming that their mother's are sea goddesses. You can't go around telling people that Ponyo is a fish anymore because people just don't believe that and definitely don't punch people even if they pushed you."

"But mom!"

"Bur Sosuke."

There was a moment of silence, and Lisa kept her eyes on the road. "So…" she said breaking the silence. "We've made Italian food tonight. Are you hungry?"

"Yay!" Ponyo cried. "Italian food, what ever that means!"

* * *

Koichi drove up the small hill, listening to his music full blast and singing in his worst voice.

"_Yeah, you and I, we'd break apart_

_there was something 'tween us from the start_

_But maybe lies get back at you_

_I'm gonna get you!"_

He turned on their street and pulled up the driveway of his house. When he put his car into park, he opened the door, got out and sang. "I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna get you, I'm GONNA GET YOU!" and he ended his note, slightly sharp and striking an air guitar pose on the ground. Being absolutely content, he walked to the door of their house and pulled out the keys. He was so happy to be home he was whistling.

"_She's not home yet, obviously because her car's not in the driveway but I hope will I surprise her when she gets back."_

He opened the door, walked in, attempted taking off his boots, threw his bags on the floor, threw the keys on the counter then walked into the kitchen.

A voice caught his attention "Lisa, I managed to-

"AHHHHHH!" Koichi shouted, grabbing the nearest kitchen knife and aiming it at the figure wearing an apron and a pair of oven mitts and holding something that smelt delicious. The man looked baffled and Koichi couldn't help noticing his messy bright orange hair. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Me?" Fujimoto answered. He was probably thinking something along the lines of, "Why is it that I always land in the most awkward situations?" But instead he answered, "I am…your…uh…cleaning lady- no! Your Chef."

"We have a chef now?" Koichi asked dazed. "With our lousy incomes?"

"Yes…I mean no." Fujimoto hesitated. "I mean to say that, Lisa, being so kind, lent me her kitchen for the day so that I could-

"Koichi? What are you doing here so early?" A voice from the entrance of the kitchen said.

The two men turned and saw that it was Lisa staring up at them. She must have entered the house a few moments ago. Sosuke and Ponyo appeared seconds after.

"Who's this?" Koichi asked Lisa, forgetting that he was going to surprise her when she got home.

"Oh…" Lisa said, somewhat confused. "Allow me to make a proper introduction. Koichi…This is Fujimoto, Ponyo's father, and Fujimoto, this is Koichi…my…husband."

"Somehow I got the impression he was our new cleaning lady." Koichi said irritated.

"Did you say that, Fujimoto?" Lisa said trying to cover up her panic. "Gosh, you are such a ridiculer, always making funny jokes." She turned to Koichi and put on her best smitten face. "Koichi, I told Fujimoto that he should come down some time and have dinner with us, sjeeing that he never gets to see Ponyo anymore. I'm sure you two have seen each other from a distance, by the dock, you just never met personally. Well…here you are, meeting for the first time." Lisa added uncomfortably.

Koichi didn't lower the knife, and Fujimoto didn't dare move towards Koichi, but he could feel the hot food burning through his oven mitts.

"Dad? What's with the kitchen knife?" Sosuke asked.

Koichi looked at the knife he was holding, and then put it behind his back. "Oh this?" he laughed nervously. "I was going to do pretend sword fighting with Fujimoto here, but promise me that you will never do pretend sword fighting on somebody you don't know." He turned to Fujimoto. "Isn't that right, Ponyo's father?"

Fujimoto raised an eyebrow, then nodded.

"Sometimes dad, you are very strange." Sosuke responded. He then left the room with Ponyo's hand in his. When they were gone Lisa scowled at Koichi and hit him lightly.

"What the hell was the real reason for the knife, Koichi?" she whispered violently.

"Fujimoto scared me and I naturally reacted to a strange man wandering in our house."

"That's no way to welcome guests."

"You know, if this is a bad time, I could just leave." Fujimoto interrupted.

"Yes." Koichi said.

"No." Lisa said at the same time. She growled at Koichi, then looked at Fujimoto. "Listen, you cooked this food all day, and it would be a bummer if the chef didn't get to taste his own meal."

"You were here all day?" Koichi cried, not believing what he was hearing.

"Yes, he was." Lisa admitted, quite poised. "And he was willing to make supper for the entire family. Unfortunately, I only set the table for four, because I wasn't expecting you to come home, so you might want to add another plate and cutlery. I invited Fujimoto, and he is staying here for supper."

"Alright, alright, you don't have to be so touchy." Koichi mocked.

* * *

Dinner was particularly awkward tonight. Koichi and Fujimoto, being the two gentlemen sat on opposite ends of the dinner table, Ponyo and Sosuke on the long end and Lisa on the other. When the fine delicacies were placed on the table, Lisa exchange plates and put servings on them. Koichi, on the other hand glared at Fujimoto, clenching his fork so that it faced completely upright.

Fujimoto would ignore Koichi's intimidating glare and would try to align his cutlery as straight as possible, but always got the slight notion that they were tilted.

Ponyo and Sosuke were making paper cranes out of their serviettes. Sosuke's was perfect and Ponyo's ended up looking like a frog that had just been road killed.

"So this is all very nice." Lisa started, "This is the first dinner we've had in months were the whole family sat down."

"Though it would have been nicer if we didn't have any guests." Koichi said under his breath.

Lisa stomped on his foot. "Koichi!" She barked over his repugnant comment.

"Oh…excuse me." Koichi said sarcastically. "I meant to say that this is great food."

Fujimoto heard Koichi's earlier remark and decided he should counter. "Well surely Koichi, you have people come by from time to time." Fujimoto said, not letting Koichi's old comment slip. "Life might be somewhat wearisome if it was only you four, continually."

"Sure, but if there was a guest I would much prefer it to be one of Lisa's aggravating friends who only like talking about shopping or something dull like that." Koichi jeered.

"Koichi!" Lisa barked again.

"I'm sure Lisa's friends would be appealing if you didn't ask them about their views on fishing." Fujimoto pungently said.

"What makes you think I ask Lisa's friends on their views of fishing?"

"Well that's what you're interested in isn't it? It's a common habit to ask women about the things you are only engrossed in. Next time, try politics, or something civilized people talk about."

"Civilized people?" Koichi repeated. "What do you know about politics? From what I heard, you haven't surfaced for years. I bet you wouldn't even know pop culture."

Lisa interrupted. "Change the topic please. You're giving me a headache just listening to you two."

Koichi and Fujimoto fell silent. Ponyo and Sosuke were now preoccupied making the mashed potatoes, Lisa prepared into fish shapes.

"Here's a topic for you," Koichi muttered trying to brighten his tone and now twirling his fork, "If you're really as amazing as they make you sound, what you do for a living?"

Fujimoto smirked. "I don't need to make a living."

"What good is that? What, you let your children starve?"

"They live in the ocean, there's plenty to eat. And moreover, I let them be independent and fend off things for themselves; otherwise they will grow up unexposed to what harsh realities come forth in life."

"Are you saying I don't raise my kids properly?" Koichi asked angrily.

"Nothing of the sort. You're human. Humans raise their kids in sheltered conditions."

"Yeah, well, stop getting off topic. What is your living?"

Fujimoto was vexed now. "I told you, I don't make a living. I don't need one. If you want to know what I do, I'll tell you. I clean up after you fishermen, you men who strip the ocean of all its valuable fish and pollute the once unmarked waters into garbage fests. You don't know how much you are destroying your own world."

"This is a company you are talking about. We do things on orders, and technically, if I make the money, I don't give a damn about the oceans."

"Koichi." Lisa snarled, "Watch your language around the children. and for the last time, you two, make nice." Koichi and Fujimoto looked towards Ponyo and Sosuke and noticed they were not even paying attention to their conversation.

Fujimoto noticed that Ponyo didn't eat any of the vegetables on her plate. "Ponyo, eat your vegetables." Fujimoto ordered her, trying to avoid Koichi's future comments. "They're good for you."

"No. Don't eat them." Koichi contradicted. "Since they taste like shit, I suspect them of having bacteria or something that could kill you."

"Soichi! For crying out loud!" Lisa growled.

Fujimoto sighed.

"In all honesty, you're cooking lacks taste." Koichi rudely pointed out.

"I'm very glad you've said so." Fujimoto sardonically replied.

"Look bud, where's your wife?" Koichi asked Fujimoto.

Fujimoto looked towards the door screen windows. "She's a goddess. She can never attend to dinner invitations."

"And you can?" Koichi grunted. "I would figure you are too busy to attend our invitations as well…Tell me. What makes us so special?"

Again, Fujimoto was put in an awkward situation and he noticed that Lisa was giving him a enquiring stare. "Ponyo is my daughter, and I was curious as to how she was coping here."

"Are you always this curious? You could always just give us a call from time to time."

Lisa found this to be a good time to interrupt the conversation and clear all the dishes "I am going to get desert now…If you'll excuse me." She stood up to leave and soon as she stood up, Fujimoto stood up as well, out of respect. Koichi remained sitting. When she left, Fujimoto sat back down following her with his eyes.

"What do you have against me?" He whispered turning to Koichi. "Can you not see Lisa is trying to brighten things around here? According to her you are very rarely at home."

"Criticizing me for not taking care of my family now, are you?" Koichi argued. "Who are you to criticize me? You are not even human."

"Unlike you, I care for-…Listen; I don't want this to end in turmoil."

The room fell silent. It appeared that Ponyo and Sosuke were now listening. They were probably disturbed by the two adult's harsh tones. All that was heard was Lisa's quiet humming in the kitchen. "So why did you do it?" Koichi asked in the silence.

"Why did I do what?" Fujimoto asked.

"Why did you trade your human life to be a wizard?"

Fujimoto didn't answer.

"I asked why-did-you-do-it?"

"I would prefer to keep that to myself."

"Are you trying to hide something?" Koichi smirked.

"No, I would just prefer it if I could keep that unstated."

"Listen, I don't like you. From the minute I saw you, I didn't like you. The only men we have around this house are _my _friends and no one else. Seeing that you're not _my friend_ I say you should pack up and leave, because if not, I will ruin you. I will do something to _ruin you._"

"It's ironic, you saying that to a wizard." Fujimoto replied.

Lisa in the meantime was in the kitchen scraping off the leftovers and putting them in the garbage. She couldn't grasp the idea that Koichi was home. It befuddled her to think why Koichi was being rude to Fujimoto. "Does he suspect anything?" She wondered. "Why does he always have to be such an asshole? Why does he have to be an asshole to Fujimoto of all people?" She almost burned her hands on the oven while desert out. She could hear soft murmurs coming from the dinning room. It was obvious Koichi was saying something that wouldn't please Fujimoto.

Lisa entered the dinning room carrying the pie, she and Fujimoto baked. Fujimoto stood as she came to the table, the only difference was that he didn't sit down when she sat down. He just stood there looking down at Koichi. Lisa looked up at his tall slim figure and so did everyone else.

"Fujimoto, why don't you sit down?"

He didn't answer at first, but after much consideration he finally spoke. "Excuse me Lisa, but something urgent has caught to my attention. Your hospitality was immense but it would seem I am not welcome in certain areas." In that notion, he looked straight at Koichi. "Do forgive me, but I must leave."

Gracefully, he left the room. Lisa quickly got up and followed. "Fujimoto! Is it something I've done? Surely, you won't just leave. There's still desert!"

"I'm sorry Lisa." Fujimoto said, "But I'm afraid I have no choice, but to leave…I'll find a way to make it up to you later. I promise."

"But-

It was too late. Fujimoto had walked out the front door, and the hallway was left silent. She went back to the dinning room and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms.

"Koichi," she said softly, "What did you do now?"

* * *

**Yeah so it's been forever! You can all punish me! I've been very very bad not publishing anything. Hopefully I'll have another chapter soon. Everything has been so unpredictable these past few months that I just haven't managed my time wisely. Atleast my absession for Ponyo didn't diminish, so you can expect more Ponyo fics from me depending on my time! Yay! Thanks for reading and thank you for the reviews! I swear, if it weren't for them I wouldn't be motivated to keep writing.**


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